Be Still

I spent some time in the mountains recently and was once again awed by the beauty and creation of God. There is something about getting away from our man-made surroundings and into the natural world God created that reminds you of His magnificence and beauty. In our busy and harried world, we spend too little time taking a break and getting quiet with our Creator. We were not created for the bombardment of impulses affecting us every day. We were not created to fill every minute of every day with (mostly) mindless activity.

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It’s okay to be still. In fact, the sons of Korah realized the wisdom in this and wrote what God had said to them: “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). When the Israelites were preparing to take the land promised to them, God told them to be still and He would fight for them (Exodus 14:14).

When was the last time you were still before God? It’s difficult to be still. We’ve become conditioned to react to unending stimuli. Cell phones and social media demand our frequent and almost constant attention. It’s unhealthy. Satan must revel every time we check our phones or social media accounts. His primary weapon since the beginning of time has been distraction. Once he has you distracted, he can then sell you a distorted version of truth (Genesis 3:1-6). Our purpose is to live a life glorifying to God and one that leads others to Him. Life is not about our comfort, our notoriety, our likes, or our preferences. We are afflicted with the curse of noise and fleeting fancy. The cure is to put it all away and be still in the presence of God.

Do you know much time you spend on your smartphone every day? Studies show the average adult spends two and a half hours on their phone each day. Consider adults average an additional two and a half hours watching television, and you’ve got five hours a day intentionally focused on something other than being alone with God. Add another 16 hours for work and sleep, and we become dangerously short on time for spending quietly with the One we proclaim to be our Lord. We are choosing to do anything but spend time with God. We are afraid to be still because we might miss something going on with our friends or in the world at large.

Something has to give. We’ve either got to intentionally choose to get alone in the quiet and be still in the presence of God or risk losing the object of our professed affection. I am not saying you can lose your salvation based on not getting alone with God, but I am saying we are on the dangerously shaky ground of proclaiming Jesus with our lips and denying Him with our life. Jesus told us if we deny Him with our lives, He will deny us before His Father (Matthew 10:33). It doesn’t get more serious than this. We’ve got to end the madness. We must re-evaluate our priorities and make the hard choices that must be made. It all starts with choosing to be still in His presence and asking for Him to reveal what needs to change. Don’t wait; be still.